Agenda item

Councillor Chapman referred to provisional outturn report found at pg 3 of the agenda pack.  He asked if there were any questions about it.  Councillor Douris noted that a number of these questions had been raised at the Audit Committee which had taken place the previous week. 

Councillor Douris referred to pg 7 of 17 of the report, in respect of the Waste Services Income.  He asked if it was related to the AFM (Alternative Financial Model), and if the figure could be relied on.  Councillor Elliot confirmed that the income did relate to the AFM, however said that the figure could not be relied upon. 

Councillor Douris went on to refer to pg 8 of the agenda pack (pg 5 of 17 of the report), specifically item 3.9.  He noted the pressures of £100k that related to the Pay & Display, caused by savings that had not been achieved due to contractual negotiations; He asked when this contract was due to terminate.  B Hosier said that the current contract expires on 31 March 2018.  He said that DBC was about to commence the tendering process with the parking enforcement contract.  He said that they would be ready to have this new contract in place by 1 March 2018.  Councillor Douris asked if this would be a direct contract between DBC and the contractor; B Hosier confirmed this.  He said that the current ongoing contract is with Watford Council, while the new contract would be procured by DBC going to market. 

Councillor Chapman asked if the costs of £15k that related to additional costs incurred from upgrading Pay & Display machines to accepting new £1 coins were final, or if any further machines required updating; B Hosier confirmed that all machines had been updated and this was the final cost. 

Councillor Silwal referred to paragraph 3.10 (pg 6 of 17 of the report), and asked for further clarification regarding the pressures of approximately £120k in relation to Third parties.  B Hosier said that this related to a large invoice that had submitted to Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) in respect of the library and registry office; this was a service charge for facilities management.  However, he said that HCC were not satisfied with the meterage of the building (this is what the management fee is based upon).  He said that there was a meeting tomorrow (5 July 2017) with HCC to discuss this.  The last resort was for HCC to conduct their own measurements of the disputed areas.  The sizing has been undertaken by an independent third party to measure the size of each of the areas in The Forum.  B Hosier said that this matter needed to be resolved, however this would hopefully be in a better position by close of play tomorrow; he said he was happy to provide the Committee with an update via email. 

Action point.  B Hosier to provide Committee with an update regarding the status of HCC’s outstanding invoice. 

Councillor Chapman referred back to item 3.9 (pg 6 of 17 of the report); in relation to the pressures of £40k in the cemeteries Service.  This related to new monitoring equipment, including Hand Arm Vibration monitoring, satisfy Health and Safety requirements.  He noted that this issue had also arisen in the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), and asked if this cost/equipment was solely for cemeteries, or it was going to be used by other departments as well.  It was initially suggested it was for just cemeteries. M Rawdon confirmed that other services were also monitoring Hand Arm Vibration, such as clean, safe and green..  Councillor Chapman noted this. 

Councillor Chapman referred to item 3.11 (pg 6 of 17 of the report); specifically the additional £210k generated from properties being used as temporary accommodation by the Housing Service.  He noted that a greater number of properties were being used temporary accommodation; he asked for further clarification.  R Baker confirmed that this was a temporary measure that related to homelessness; previously DBC had used bed & breakfast accommodation, but now were using its own commercial properties, such as properties above shops. 

Councillor Chapman went on to note that car parking income achieved a surplus of£100k over the financial year, and asked what this was in terms of volume/percentage increase against this time last year.  B Hosier said he would be able to provide this information via email.  As a point of interest, Councillor Douris asked why (as stated in the report) it was considered that the mild and dry year had such a significant impact on these figures.  B Hosier said that it was thought that people came out more in the town centre, rather than staying in, and then used the car parking facilities. 

Action point.  B Hosier to provide the Committee with the volume/percentage increase of the £100k car parking income against the previous financial year. 

Councillor Chapman referred to item 4.2 (pg 7 of 17 of the report), the over-achievement of budget of £222k.  He commented that there were ten local authorities within Hertfordshire County Council, and that this seemed a particularly good result.  He wondered where this placed DBC in terms rank/place of income received against the other local authorities.  It was thought that DBC was at the top end of the rank; R Baker said that he would confirm. 

Action Point.  R Baker to confirm DBC’S rank within Hertfordshire in terms of income received through the AFM. 

Outcome: At the invitation of the Chairman, the Committee noted and agreed the provisional outturn position.